[nagdu] Signed up by family?

Kaye Kipp kkipp123 at gmail.com
Fri Jun 19 20:43:50 UTC 2015 

I don't think they could because the schools have to interview the person,
and if he/she was signed up by someone else, it seems like the schools
wouldn't accept that.

I do remember though, that back in the 60's, at least the school I went to
didn't come and do interviews.

Kaye

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Danielle Ledet
via nagdu
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2015 12:13 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Cc: Danielle Ledet
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Signed up by family?

Wow what a nice feel-good story. How could someone sign someone else up to
get a guide dog? I don't understand.

On 6/19/15, Julie McGinnity via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Tracy and all,
>
> I have a lot of thoughts on this.  I think that PR like this does a 
> lot more harm than good.  Here's why:
>
> 1. It promotes the idea that guide dogs are miracles or magical: I 
> love the bond, the way I walk with a dog, but at the end of the day, 
> he is a dog who loves to work, and we are a team.  We had to work hard 
> to get where we are, and using a dog still isn't perfect.  Yes, 
> getting a guide dog can change your life, but is it miraculous, the 
> being that will solve all of your problems as a blind person?  No.  I 
> don't think so.
>
> 2. The blind person is patronized: This should be obvious, but in 
> order to make themselves look good, the schools make us seem helpless 
> without their services.  In addition, in this case, the blind person 
> is made to seem as though he didn't even make a decision on the 
> matter.
>
> 3. Guides are portrayed as rights rather than privileges: Not every 
> person should work a guide dog.  Not every person would benefit from 
> one, and some people are denied dogs because of poor mobility skills 
> or other reasons.  What happened to the blind person working hard on 
> their cane skills to go to guide dog school?  For something that comes 
> with so much responsibility, getting a dog surely seems like a simple 
> process.
>
> 4. They support the myth that blind people must have guide dogs to
> travel: This is similar to number two, but now I direct your attention 
> to the society at large.  Cane users are asked why they don't have 
> dogs, treated differently, and there are blind people who resent guide 
> dog users.  I believe that this kind of PR leads to this behavior.
> Blind people buy into the idea that they can't without their dog, and 
> boom!  Resentment from other blind people who choose not to use a dog 
> and a misinformed public.
>
> I should also add that there are other factors that influence these 
> things, especially the notions of the public.  These are just some 
> ideas I've had.
>
>
> On 6/19/15, Tracy Carcione via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Hi Minh.
>> I respectfully disagree, but perhaps the loved ones we each have in 
>> mind are different.  I think my husband would benefit from having a 
>> guide dog, and I think he'd do well with one, but he says he's not 
>> interested.  Trying to nudge him along would just annoy him and make 
>> him dig in his heels.  The most I can do is point out ways my dog 
>> helps me, or ways it would help in some situation, and even that I'd 
>> better not keep harping on.  I strongly believe it's a choice a 
>> person has to make himself.  Family and friends can advise and 
>> encourage, but that's it.
>>
>> The GDB newsletter is PR, and I'm sure it's not entirely accurate, 
>> but I think we have every right to expect even PR to treat us as 
>> intelligent adults who can and do make decisions for ourselves. I 
>> understand that a school might feel some sloppiness is needed, but 
>> they can go too far, and then we should speak up, or at least point it
out.  JMO.
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of minh ha 
>> via nagdu
>> Sent: Friday, June 19, 2015 12:06 PM
>> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
>> Cc: minh ha
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Signed up by family?
>>
>> The GDB newsletter is a promotional email that they send out to 
>> everyone, so obviously some details are blurred a little bit. I don't 
>> think I've ever seen marketing material from any guide dog school 
>> that truly portrays the guide dog process accurately or adequately. 
>> What probably happened was they discussed it, but he needed some 
>> extra pushing from his wife. And personally, as someone who is in a 
>> long and committed relationship, I would do the exact same thing if I 
>> whole heartedly believe that the person that I love truly needed a 
>> guide dog, but was too afraid to do so himself.
>>
>> Maybe it's a different process for those who lose vision later on in 
>> life.
>> The adjustment period can last a really really long time and some 
>> blind people just require that extra nudge to get them going again.
>>
>> Minh
>>
>> On 6/19/15, Lisa via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> Hi Tracy,
>>>
>>> I completely agree with you. Of course it's great when others 
>>> encourage a person to  consider getting a guide dog. But it's just 
>>> the same as getting someone a puppy for Christmas, only even worse. 
>>> It's meant as a nice gift or
>>>
>>> idea but it's not thoughtful.
>>>
>>> You have to be 100% sure that you would like to share your life with 
>>> a guide
>>>
>>> dog. There's so much you have to learn and plan. In the beginning, 
>>> there are
>>>
>>> so many things that can be challenging and exhausting while becoming 
>>> a
>> team.
>>>
>>> As everyone on here knows, it's not like getting somebody a cane. 
>>> You have to be willing to get up in the middle of the night when 
>>> doggy has got diarrhea because he's eaten something wrong. That's 
>>> just one single example,
>>>
>>> I could probably think of 100 others.
>>> The decision to apply for a guide dog has to come from yourself 
>>> because you
>>>
>>> will be the one responsible for your guide.
>>>
>>> Well, of course we don't know whether the wife and husband had been 
>>> talking
>>>
>>> about the possibility of getting a guide dog before. Maybe the 
>>> husband knew
>>>
>>> about his wife signing him up and it's just a nice story for the 
>>> public. But
>>>
>>> if not,I think it's irresponsible and I don't see why a guide dog 
>>> program would want other people to sign their relatives and friends 
>>> up because it's
>>>
>>> likely they're facing a lot of difficulties then.
>>>
>>> Just my humble and spontaneous opinion :-)
>>>
>>> Lisa
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Tracy Carcione via nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> Cc: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
>>> Sent: Friday, June 19, 2015 5:25 PM
>>> Subject: [nagdu] Signed up by family?
>>>
>>>
>>>>I just got the GDB newsletter for the general public, and there's a 
>>>>bit I  think is odd or over-the-top or patronizing, really.
>>>>
>>>> So-and-so suddenly lost his sight, and found ways to go on for 
>>>> years, but felt something was missing.  Then "his wife stepped in 
>>>> and signed him up for a guide dog, and, before he knew it, he was 
>>>> at GDB, being matched with his new partner."
>>>>
>>>> Really?  I've sometimes wished I could "sign someone up" for a 
>>>> guide dog, but it takes a real commitment from the person to get 
>>>> through the training and the first few months of adjustment, at 
>>>> least.  It's not a decision someone else could take for me, or me 
>>>> for someone else.
>>>>
>>>> When my brother fell down a manhole using his cane, my mother did 
>>>> sit him down and tell him he should get a guide dog, like his 
>>>> sister.  He decided
>>>>
>>>> it
>>>> was good advice, and has been happy with the decision, but, if he'd 
>>>> decided otherwise, there wouldn't be a darn thing anyone could have 
>>>> done about it, even if they'd wanted to try.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The GDB piece just seemed weird to me.  Why would they even want to 
>>>> encourage someone to sign up someone else?  What makes them think I 
>>>> have a keeper, who can make life-changing decisions for me?
>>>>
>>>> Has anyone actually heard of such a thing happening?
>>>>
>>>> Tracy
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Minh Ha
>> Boston College | Lynch School of Education '16 minh.ha927 at gmail.com
>>
>> "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the 
>> dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was
vanity:
>> but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on 
>> their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence
>>
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>
>
> --
> Julie McGinnity
> National Federation of the Blind of Missouri second vice president, 
> National Federation of the Blind performing arts division secretary, 
> Missouri Association of Guide dog Users President graduate, Guiding 
> Eyes for the Blind 2008, 2014 "For we walk by faith, not by sight"
> 2 Cor. 7
>
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